New Poll Finds California Voters Want Action to Lower Energy Costs, See Clean Energy as Affordable Solution

New statewide survey by Bold Decision, commissioned by Advanced Energy United and released today, finds California likely voters support solutions to expand clean energy and modernize the grid

SACRAMENTO, CA – As California faces rising energy costs, growing electricity demand, and increasing pressure on the grid, a new statewide poll released today finds a supermajority of likely voters in the state see clean energy as an affordable approach for meeting the state’s energy needs.

National public opinion research firm Bold Decision conducted this poll on behalf of Advanced Energy United, which released the findings today during the California Powers Up: Energy & Policy Solutions Summit in Sacramento. The survey findings are publicly available at CAEnergyFuture.org.

“California voters know the status quo is not working and definitively see clean energy as an affordability solution,” said Brandon García, California Director at Advanced Energy United.

“Voters know our energy challenges aren’t going away, and they overwhelmingly want the state to be more ambitious in building more clean energy, modernizing our grid, and providing greater consumer choice as part of the solution. California leaders should heed the will of the voters by advancing practical solutions that take advantage of every available technology and not let bureaucracy get in the way of achieving affordability.”

“Our poll shows voters sending an urgent warning of concern about energy and electricity issues in California,” said pollster Adam Rosenblatt, Partner at Bold Decision. “Voters say California lacks sufficient electricity infrastructure to meet current demand as well as anticipated future needs. The overwhelming majority of Californians view clean energy as an affordable solution that would help the state and ratepayers save money.”

TOPLINES

• Energy concerns: Only 36% of California voters say the state has sufficient electricity infrastructure “to meet current demand.” An even smaller share (30%) say the state has sufficient electricity infrastructure “to meet future needs.” 80% say energy and electricity challenges are a “new long-term reality” in California and 85% say electricity costs are a minor or major source of stress.

• Clean energy saves money, creates jobs: 80% of voters agree “renewable / clean” energy technologies help people in California save money,” including 41% who strongly agree. Voters also agree that these technologies help create new quality jobs in California (86%, 42% strongly).

• Clean energy drives down electricity costs: By a 2:1 margin, voters think encouraging more “renewable / clean energy” will “make electricity costs lower” (50%) rather than “higher” (25%). Just 12% think this would “not make a difference” while 13% are unsure.

SUPPORT FOR SOLUTIONS

Voters expressed strong support for several potential solutions to lower energy costs:

• Have utilities provide consumers access to energy usage data, so people know how much energy they use and how they can reduce their electricity consumption

• Expand and modernize energy generation and transmission infrastructure in California

• Find ways to lower overall demand for electricity

• Encourage both small and large energy generation projects

• Incentivize consumers to contribute excess / unused power back to the grid

Voters also express interest in taking action on their own: 70% support using personal or community energy devices to lower their utility bill; 87% say the state should make it easier for people to buy or install smart energy devices such as solar or battery storage; and nearly 8 in 10 voters support providing rebates or tax incentives for people to purchase smart energy devices such as smart thermostats, rooftop solar, home batteries, or heat pumps as a way to help lower energy costs in California.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

Bold Decision (bold-decision.com) conducted online interviews among N=1,204 California November 2026 general election likely voters (statewide) from Tuesday, July 21 – Tuesday, July 28, 2026. The overall margin of error is +/- 2.82% at the 95% confidence interval and higher for subgroups. Some questions were split sampled to reduce respondent fatigue and the findings may total more or less than 100% due to rounding.